Power to the Powerful!
by Bill Shein
Let's hear three sarcastic cheers for the U.S. Congress!
Barely two months into a new session, our "representatives"
haven't missed a step in the race to eliminate every remaining
opportunity for mere mortals to counter the growing power
of big business. C'mon, America: Let me hear you say,
"Woo!" And let me hear you say, "Hoo!"
In fact, the terrible news for working and non-wealthy
Americans is coming so fast and furious that it's hard
to keep up. The elimination of our country's fragile tradition
of economic fairness has become such a blur of pro-corporate
madness that it's now the background noise of modern American
life -- we don't even notice it.
With lawsuit "reform" completed last month,
the coming weeks will see urgent congressional action
on so-called bankruptcy "reform," medical liability
"reform," Social Security "reform,"
tax code "reform" and Medicaid "reform."
Why the quotation marks around "reform"? Because
there was a time when reform -- literally "to improve"
-- meant change that benefited us regular folks, not those
with wealth and power. But today, economic populism has
been so completely turned on its head -- often with an
Orwellian rallying cry of phony "reform" --
that it's hard to figure out who's really on our side.
As we learned in "1984," ignorance is strength,
baby!
Take the bill Congress approved last month to curb "lawsuit
abuse" -- a phrase cooked up by the same politico-linguists
who gave us the hilariously deceptive label of "junk
lawsuits." Now it's harder to challenge the misdeeds
of big corporations in state court; many lawsuits must
now be filed in federal courts that don't usually address
the state-level consumer protection laws that are often
at issue. So much for the current Washington crowd's mantra
of reducing the role of the federal government, returning
power to the states, blah, blah, blah.
Incredibly, President Bush said recently that the judicial
system is "not fair" to corporations. It's "not
fair" that businesses should be held accountable
for defective products, misleading marketing claims, and
other behavior that defrauds, injures, or kills American
citizens? Seriously, whose side is he on?
Do frivolous lawsuits exist? Of course, and some states
have found effective ways to reduce them. Was Congress's
remedy the right solution? Not even close.
Meanwhile, so-called "reform" marches on. In
the coming days, Congress is likely to approve a bankruptcy
"reform" bill that credit card companies have
been dreaming about for a decade. Not surprisingly, it
makes it harder to file for personal bankruptcy. And,
ironically, it will pass just days after a Harvard study
found that at least half of personal bankruptcies are
the result of a health emergency.
Even more revealing is research by nonpartisan groups
like Demos USA that show a growing number of working families
use credit cards just to buy essentials like groceries
and medicine. Make a late payment or two, and interest
rates can rise to 26 or 27 percent. Get sick or lose a
job, and families go into financial free fall. (More than
one-third of those who file for bankruptcy protection
have already had their phone, electric, or water service
turned off.)
Are there a few people who go on a credit card shopping
spree and file for bankruptcy protection so they won't
have to pay? You bet. Is this pro-corporate "reform"
-- one that will harshly punish families facing a catastrophic
health crisis -- the answer? Nope.
If Congress wants to tackle the big issues, where's the
fast-track legislation that would curb usurious lending
practices? Or the urgent bill to make it harder for big
corporations to file Chapter 11 for protection from their
creditors? Or the one that provides universal health insurance?
Hello? Anyone? Bueller?
Of course, the bankruptcy "reform" bill does
address the credit card industry's biggest challenge:
Without help from Congress, how can it possibly find a
way to further increase its record profits?
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Like your local “Action News” team,
Bill Shein is on your side.
(This column originally appeared in the Berkshire
Eagle newspaper on March 2, 2005).
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